


Passenger Seat

by tsuristyle



Category: SMAP
Genre: Gen, the Osaka trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 16:33:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9132382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuristyle/pseuds/tsuristyle
Summary: Kimura thinks of Tsuyoshi beside him in the driver's seat, goodnaturedly if rather worrisomely navigating the rest of the way to the hotel, and is suddenly struck by the urge to dash out of there, through all those hallways and elevators, to see Tsuyoshi off.(Set the morning after the Osaka roadtrip.)





	

When Tsuyoshi leaves, the room is almost unbearably quiet, even though the sound of four men sleeping shouldn't reasonably be much less than the sound of five men sleeping. The trip is over. Reality is settling back in, like after a long dream.

Kimura sits up, blinking in the dark. For all that he's usually dead as a log in the mornings, he can't get back to sleep.

To his right, Goro has dozed off again, one hand still flung over his eyes in protest against the light. Shingo hasn't moved in the slightest, and in all likelihood didn't even approach waking up despite Tsuyoshi's attempts. He is Shingo, after all.

Nakai shifts sleepily, one hand finding the corner of Tsuyoshi's abandoned blanket and tugging it towards him. He drags it over his head, mumbling incoherently, and curls a little more tightly around his own jumbled blankets.

Kimura thinks of Tsuyoshi beside him in the driver's seat, goodnaturedly if rather worrisomely navigating the rest of the way to the hotel, and is suddenly struck by the urge to dash out of there, through all those hallways and elevators, to see Tsuyoshi off like they'd promised. It would be ridiculous, pointless, possibly even fruitless. And for what? Just to cling to this dream of how things could be, to make it a little more real?

He's halfway down the elevator before he can think twice about it, impatiently watching the numbers tick down. Tsuyoshi probably isn't even there anymore. He's just going to look like an idiot in front of the hotel staff. The elevator dings and he tears across the lobby, racing towards the escalator down, expecting to see no one there at all.

Tsuyoshi is just stepping off the escalator. He turns to follow the staff out, but stops when he catches sight of Kimura, blinking in confusion. It's too far to say anything unless they shout, and Kimura isn't sure what he'd say anyway; instead, he lets a smile pull at the corner of his mouth, and lifts one hand to give his bandmate a wordless thumbs-up.

The smile Tsuyoshi gives him in return is equal parts surprised and delighted, and completely, utterly real.

When Kimura slips back into his futon, the room doesn't seem so quiet anymore-- Shingo shifts in his sleep, Nakai mumbles again, and Goro's breathing is a faint constant in his ear-- but despite that he finds himself already drifting off. Maybe it's not so bad to cling to a dream. Maybe the dream isn't a dream at all, just the reality that remains when everything life has thrown them is put on hold for a while.

He closes his eyes, and dozes off to the memory of riding in the passenger seat.


End file.
